Leah walked down the hill to the muddy river, where the weathered, leaky canoe was tethered to the dock. She hadn’t been canoeing in months and she was ready. Leah put on her life jacket—she’d never flipped, and the river was shallow, but she always wore it just in case. She put her right foot in the center of the canoe, when Leah’s sister came running down the hill, shouting.
“Wait!”
Leah looked up and the canoe bobbed further into the river. Leah’s eyes got wider as her feet moved further apart. And then splash!—she’d lost her footing.
Summer Sprain
I walked down the rocky, dirt path carved in the earth by tractor wheels with my sister Kate. I carried my sketchbook with me and soon spotted a tiny, white butterfly resting on a wheat plant. I stood there, studying, sketching, while Kate continued walking. When I’d finished, I raced after her but my foot landed on a rock, my ankle rolled, my foot turned in and I fell to the ground. I sat there, stunned; I tried to stand but my ankle couldn’t bear any weight. I grabbed wheat to pull myself down and shouted out to my sister.
Burned Out
It was nine at night and summertime. A dozen friends sat circled around a fire, burning the ends of sticks and tossing marshmallows into the flames to watch them expand and burn black. Kim brought her ex-boyfriend’s shirt out from the house and her friends shouted encouragement.
“Burn it! Get rid of him!”
“Wonder how fast it’ll burn?”
“Toss it in!”
She grinned and dropped the dark blue t-shirt into the fire and watched as the flames blazed higher and the shirt burned away. The group cheered.
“Kim!” A voice called from the gate.
She turned to see her ex-boyfriend.
Wild Surprise
The two women walked on the rocky, dirt path that led through the Canadian bush. Their family had taken the tractor and wagon out for a ride and Sara and Jess wanted to catch up with them. It was mid-afternoon, hot and sunny, and a strong wind blew through the poplar trees. They came to a bend in the path and when they turned, they discovered two black bear cubs following the path far ahead of them. The nervous women slowed their walk.
“Where’s the mother?” whispered Sara to Jess, just as the cubs turned and disappeared in the bush.
The Argument
“You never listen!” screamed the girl at her brother.
“Shut up shut up shut up!” he yelled back.
The two stood in the kitchen arguing about god knows what. The girl held her clenched fists to her sides and screamed. The boy furiously rambled some incomprehensible string of words and then swore at his sister.
She looked at him dumbfounded while he reached out and grabbed her necklace and yanked the chain. It broke and the gold charm fell on the linoleum floor. The girl’s jaw dropped as she clutched the spot where the necklace belonged. She burst into tears.
Caught
Deanna and Alex sat on Rachel’s bed in her dorm room while she stepped out. All of a sudden, they heard pounding on the door just before it flew open.
“Where’s Rachel?” the boy demanded. “She’s in big trouble. You can’t be in here without her, you need to leave now.”
“Is she really going to be in that much trouble? We’ll leave right now,” said Alex.
Rachel walked in to see her friends packing up. Rachel high-fived the boy.
“Hey guys, it was just a joke. He wouldn’t throw you out.”
“That was so mean,” said Deanna, almost crying.
Catstronauts
“Sniffles, we’re not lost anymore! There’s the moon on the left,” called Catface to his comrade.
“Brilliant. Our milk supply is low and there’s a fountain of milk at the core of the moon! That’s why it’s made of cheese, you know.”
Excited to fill up, the cats sped towards the moon. After a rough landing, Sniffles and Catface curled into their spacesuits and grabbed their drills. They would use the hoses attached to the spaceship to get the milk.
“Catface, I’ll start drilling. You grab a hose.”
Sniffles turned to grab a hose to discover that they’d forgotten them.
The Splits
Leah walked down the hill to the muddy river, where the weathered, leaky canoe was tethered to the dock. She hadn’t been canoeing in months and she was ready. Leah put on her life jacket—she’d never flipped, and the river was shallow, but she always wore it just in case. She put her right foot in the center of the canoe, when Leah’s sister came running down the hill, shouting.
“Wait!”
Leah looked up and the canoe bobbed further into the river. Leah’s eyes got wider as her feet moved further apart. And then splash!—she’d lost her footing.
Summer Sprain
I walked down the rocky, dirt path carved in the earth by tractor wheels with my sister Kate. I carried my sketchbook with me and soon spotted a tiny, white butterfly resting on a wheat plant. I stood there, studying, sketching, while Kate continued walking. When I’d finished, I raced after her but my foot landed on a rock, my ankle rolled, my foot turned in and I fell to the ground. I sat there, stunned; I tried to stand but my ankle couldn’t bear any weight. I grabbed wheat to pull myself down and shouted out to my sister.
Burned Out
It was nine at night and summertime. A dozen friends sat circled around a fire, burning the ends of sticks and tossing marshmallows into the flames to watch them expand and burn black. Kim brought her ex-boyfriend’s shirt out from the house and her friends shouted encouragement.
“Burn it! Get rid of him!”
“Wonder how fast it’ll burn?”
“Toss it in!”
She grinned and dropped the dark blue t-shirt into the fire and watched as the flames blazed higher and the shirt burned away. The group cheered.
“Kim!” A voice called from the gate.
She turned to see her ex-boyfriend.
Wild Surprise
The two women walked on the rocky, dirt path that led through the Canadian bush. Their family had taken the tractor and wagon out for a ride and Sara and Jess wanted to catch up with them. It was mid-afternoon, hot and sunny, and a strong wind blew through the poplar trees. They came to a bend in the path and when they turned, they discovered two black bear cubs following the path far ahead of them. The nervous women slowed their walk.
“Where’s the mother?” whispered Sara to Jess, just as the cubs turned and disappeared in the bush.
The Argument
“You never listen!” screamed the girl at her brother.
“Shut up shut up shut up!” he yelled back.
The two stood in the kitchen arguing about god knows what. The girl held her clenched fists to her sides and screamed. The boy furiously rambled some incomprehensible string of words and then swore at his sister.
She looked at him dumbfounded while he reached out and grabbed her necklace and yanked the chain. It broke and the gold charm fell on the linoleum floor. The girl’s jaw dropped as she clutched the spot where the necklace belonged. She burst into tears.
Caught
Deanna and Alex sat on Rachel’s bed in her dorm room while she stepped out. All of a sudden, they heard pounding on the door just before it flew open.
“Where’s Rachel?” the boy demanded. “She’s in big trouble. You can’t be in here without her, you need to leave now.”
“Is she really going to be in that much trouble? We’ll leave right now,” said Alex.
Rachel walked in to see her friends packing up. Rachel high-fived the boy.
“Hey guys, it was just a joke. He wouldn’t throw you out.”
“That was so mean,” said Deanna, almost crying.
Catstronauts
“Sniffles, we’re not lost anymore! There’s the moon on the left,” called Catface to his comrade.
“Brilliant. Our milk supply is low and there’s a fountain of milk at the core of the moon! That’s why it’s made of cheese, you know.”
Excited to fill up, the cats sped towards the moon. After a rough landing, Sniffles and Catface curled into their spacesuits and grabbed their drills. They would use the hoses attached to the spaceship to get the milk.
“Catface, I’ll start drilling. You grab a hose.”
Sniffles turned to grab a hose to discover that they’d forgotten them.